Jimmy

Jimmy

Connors, Jimmy (James Scott Connors, Jr.), 1952-, American tennis player, b. East St. Louis, Ill. A volatile, controversial, and fiercely competitive player, Connors was known for his theatrical conduct on the court as well as for his powerful two-handed backhand, strong return of service, accurate baseline play, and agility. He remains the all-time leader in men's tournament victories (109) and held the men's number one ranking for 160 weeks (1974-77), a record that was broken in 2007 by Roger Federer. He won five U.S. Open titles (1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, and 1983) on three different surfaces, two Wimbledon singles titles (1974 and 1982), and one Australian Open title (1974).

Carter served in the navy, where he worked with Admiral Hyman G. Rickover in developing the nuclear submarine program. Resigning his commission (1953) after his father's death, he ran his family's peanut farm, which he built into a prosperous business. In 1962 he was elected as a Democrat to the first of two terms in the Georgia Senate. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1966, then succeeded in 1970, replacing Lester Maddox. As governor, Carter proclaimed that the time had come to end racial discrimination and formed alliances with such civil-rights leaders as Andrew Young.

Although little known outside Georgia, Carter announced that he would run for president at the end of his gubernatorial term, and through sustained and diligent campaigning won the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination. With Minnesota Senator Walter F. Mondale as his running mate, Carter defeated incumbent President Gerald R. Ford. But Carter never established good relations with Congress and, with Republican successes in the 1978 midterm elections, his difficulties increased.

In foreign policy, Carter had some initial success. He secured congressional ratification—by a single vote after extended and rancorous debate—of his two Panama Canal treaties (1977), establishing a timetable for passing control of the canal to Panama. Then, in 1979, at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, Carter personally persuaded Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel to sign the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab state (see Camp David accords).

Although he and Leonid Brezhnev signed the Salt II treaty (see disarmament, nuclear), it had uncertain chances for Senate ratification, and Carter shelved the treaty in Jan., 1980, as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (see Afghanistan War). When the USSR refused to withdraw, Carter also initiated a trade embargo and a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games. In the last year of his administration, Carter's foreign policy was overshadowed by the Iran hostage crisis, in which Iranian students invaded the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 55 hostages. When attempts to negotiate their release failed, Carter authorized a military rescue mission in Apr., 1980, that failed ignominiously.

Domestically, Carter had difficulties controlling inflation, which rose in each year of his administration—in part because of oil price increases after the Iranian revolution. The Federal Reserve Board's drastic remedies for curtailing inflation led to interest rates of more than 20% by 1980. Inflation and the unresolved hostage crisis put Carter in a weak position as the 1980 presidential election campaign began. He won the Democratic nomination only after a bitter challenge from Sen. Edward Kennedy. In the general election he was decisively defeated by Ronald Reagan.

Since leaving office, Carter has been active in international human-rights efforts, often as an impartial observer of first-time free elections. He has served as an international mediator in North Korea, Haiti, Bosnia, Venezuela, and elsewhere, and has worked to focus world attention on epidemics in Africa. He made a highly publicized trip to Cuba in May, 2002, becoming the most prominent American to visit the nation since Castro came to power. The Carter Center in Atlanta, founded in 1986, became an important arena for the discussion of international affairs. Carter also has been deeply involved with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps working-class people in North America and abroad build and finance new homes. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to advance peace, democracy, human rights, and economic and social development.

Jimmy Carter married Rosalynn Smith in 1946; they have four children. During his term of office Carter published Why Not the Best? (1975) and A Government as Good as Its People (1977). After it, he wrote more than a dozen works of poetry and nonfiction, including The Blood of Abraham (1985); Everything to Gain (1987, written with his wife); Turning Point (1992); The Hornet's Nest (2003), a novel set in the South during the Revolutionary War; and Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid (2006), which some critics accused of one-sided, anti-Israeli views.

See his memoirs, Keeping Faith (1982) and An Hour before Daylight (2001); J. Wooten, Dasher: The Roots and the Rising of Jimmy Carter (1978); E. C. Hargrove, Jimmy Carter as President (1988); P. G. Bourne, Jimmy Carter (1997); D. Brinkley, The Unfinished Presidency (1998); B. Glad, An Outsider in the White House (2009).

Stewart, Jimmy (James Maitland Stewart), 1908-97, American actor, b. Indiana, Pa. He began his film career in 1935 and soon gained popularity for his lanky good looks, slow drawl and shy, homespun charm, evident in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). In later years, he brought these qualities to bear on more determined, heroic characters. He won an Academy Award for The Philadelphia Story (1940). His signature role is that of George Bailey, a small towner brought to an understanding of his own importance on Christmas Eve in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). His other films include Destry Rides Again (1939), Broken Arrow (1950), Harvey (1950), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Flight of the Phoenix (1966), and The Shootist (1976). During World War II, he served as a bomber pilot and rose to the rank of colonel, eventually becoming a brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He also starred in two television series and published a book of humorous poetry (1989).

Dorsey, Jimmy (James Francis Dorsey), 1904-57, and his brother Tommy Dorsey (Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr.), 1905-1956, both b. Shenandoah, Pa., American jazz musicians and bandleaders during the Big Band era. Jimmy Dorsey played the clarinet and alto saxophone, his brother the trombone. Toward the beginning of their careers in the late 1920s both were part of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, and by the early 1930s both were successful pick-up and studio musicians. The two briefly had two bands together, the swing group of 1933-35 and another from 1953-56. Most of the time, however, each had his own band—Jimmy's a dance-oriented group and Tommy's more of a hot and sweet jazz ensemble that for awhile (1939-42) featured Frank Sinatra as a soloist. The Dorsey bands were popular Big Band era (late 1930s to early 50s). Dorsey bands were featured in several Hollywood movies, and the brothers starred in a fictionalized film biography, The Fabulous Dorseys (1947).

(born May 20, 1908, Indiana, Pa., U.S.—died July 2, 1997, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. film actor. He made his film debut in 1935, but at first, Stewart's slow, halting line delivery (perhaps his most readily identifiable trademark) and angular features made him difficult to cast. His engaging manner, however, led to quick acceptance by the movie-going public, and he played endearingly simple and idealistic characters in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It with You (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). He won an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in The Philadelphia Story (1940). After serving as a bomber pilot in World War II, he starred in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), which became a Christmas classic. He was known for his portrayals of diffident but morally resolute characters. His many movies include Destry Rides Again (1939), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), The Man from Laramie (1955), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1955), and Vertigo (1958).

(born Feb. 14, 1913, Brazil, Ind., U.S.—disappeared July 30, 1975, Bloomfield Hills, near Detroit, Mich.) U.S. labour leader. He moved with his family to Detroit in 1924, left school at 14, and began work as a stockboy and warehouseman. He became a labour organizer in the 1930s, rising in the Teamsters Union during the next two decades until he reached the office of president, which he held from 1957 to 1971. Known throughout the trucking industry as a tough bargainer, he played a key role in forging the first national freight-hauling agreement and helped make the Teamsters the largest labour union in the U.S. Long associated with underworld figures, he was sent to prison in 1967 for jury tampering, fraud, and conspiracy; his sentence was commuted by Pres. Richard Nixon in 1971. In 1975 he disappeared from a restaurant near Detroit; he is believed to have been murdered to prevent his retaking control of the union. His son, James Riddle Hoffa, Jr. (b. 1941), was elected president of the Teamsters in 1999.

(born Dec. 14, 1896, Alameda, Calif., U.S.—died Sept. 27, 1993, Pebble Beach, Calif.) U.S. general. He enlisted in the army in World War I and became an aviator. After the war he earned a Ph.D. in engineering and remained in the Army Air Corps as a test pilot until 1930, when he became head of aviation for Shell Oil Co. In 1932 he set a world air speed record. Returning to active duty during World War II, he led a daring raid on Tokyo (1942), for which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. He commanded air operations on many fronts, including attacks on Germany in 1944–45. After the war he remained active in the aerospace industry. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989.

(born Sept. 2, 1952, East St. Louis, Ill., U.S.) U.S. tennis player. In 1974 he won three grand-slam tournaments (U.S. Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon) but was barred from the French Open because he had joined World Team Tennis. Known for his aggressive play and fiery temper, Connors won the Wimbledon and U.S. doubles (with Ilie Nastase) h1s in 1975, the Wimbledon singles in 1982, and the U.S. singles in 1976, 1978, 1982, and 1983.

(born Oct. 1, 1924, Plains, Ga., U.S.) 39th president of the U.S. (1977–81). He graduated from Annapolis and served in the U.S. Navy until 1953, when he left to manage the family peanut business. He served in the state senate from 1962 to 1966. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1966; depressed by this experience, he found solace in evangelical Christianity, becoming a born-again Baptist. In 1970 he ran again and won. As governor (1971–75), he opened Georgia's government offices to African Americans and women and introduced stricter budgeting procedures for state agencies. In 1976, though lacking a national political base or major backing, he won the Democratic nomination and the presidency, defeating the Republican incumbent, Gerald Ford. As president, Carter helped negotiate a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, signed a treaty with Panama to make the Panama Canal a neutral zone after 1999, and established full diplomatic relations with China. In 1979–80 the Iran hostage crisis became a major political liability. He responded forcefully to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, embargoing the shipment of U.S. grain to the Soviet Union and pressing for a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The poor state of the economy, which was plagued by high inflation and high unemployment, contributed to Carter's electoral defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1980. He subsequently became involved in numerous international diplomatic negotiations and helped to oversee elections in countries with insecure democratic traditions; he also became the first sitting or former American president to visit Fidel Castro's Cuba. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002.

(born Feb. 14, 1913, Brazil, Ind., U.S.—disappeared July 30, 1975, Bloomfield Hills, near Detroit, Mich.) U.S. labour leader. He moved with his family to Detroit in 1924, left school at 14, and began work as a stockboy and warehouseman. He became a labour organizer in the 1930s, rising in the Teamsters Union during the next two decades until he reached the office of president, which he held from 1957 to 1971. Known throughout the trucking industry as a tough bargainer, he played a key role in forging the first national freight-hauling agreement and helped make the Teamsters the largest labour union in the U.S. Long associated with underworld figures, he was sent to prison in 1967 for jury tampering, fraud, and conspiracy; his sentence was commuted by Pres. Richard Nixon in 1971. In 1975 he disappeared from a restaurant near Detroit; he is believed to have been murdered to prevent his retaking control of the union. His son, James Riddle Hoffa, Jr. (b. 1941), was elected president of the Teamsters in 1999.

(born Dec. 14, 1896, Alameda, Calif., U.S.—died Sept. 27, 1993, Pebble Beach, Calif.) U.S. general. He enlisted in the army in World War I and became an aviator. After the war he earned a Ph.D. in engineering and remained in the Army Air Corps as a test pilot until 1930, when he became head of aviation for Shell Oil Co. In 1932 he set a world air speed record. Returning to active duty during World War II, he led a daring raid on Tokyo (1942), for which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. He commanded air operations on many fronts, including attacks on Germany in 1944–45. After the war he remained active in the aerospace industry. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989.

(born Sept. 2, 1952, East St. Louis, Ill., U.S.) U.S. tennis player. In 1974 he won three grand-slam tournaments (U.S. Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon) but was barred from the French Open because he had joined World Team Tennis. Known for his aggressive play and fiery temper, Connors won the Wimbledon and U.S. doubles (with Ilie Nastase) h1s in 1975, the Wimbledon singles in 1982, and the U.S. singles in 1976, 1978, 1982, and 1983.

(born Oct. 1, 1924, Plains, Ga., U.S.) 39th president of the U.S. (1977–81). He graduated from Annapolis and served in the U.S. Navy until 1953, when he left to manage the family peanut business. He served in the state senate from 1962 to 1966. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1966; depressed by this experience, he found solace in evangelical Christianity, becoming a born-again Baptist. In 1970 he ran again and won. As governor (1971–75), he opened Georgia's government offices to African Americans and women and introduced stricter budgeting procedures for state agencies. In 1976, though lacking a national political base or major backing, he won the Democratic nomination and the presidency, defeating the Republican incumbent, Gerald Ford. As president, Carter helped negotiate a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, signed a treaty with Panama to make the Panama Canal a neutral zone after 1999, and established full diplomatic relations with China. In 1979–80 the Iran hostage crisis became a major political liability. He responded forcefully to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, embargoing the shipment of U.S. grain to the Soviet Union and pressing for a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The poor state of the economy, which was plagued by high inflation and high unemployment, contributed to Carter's electoral defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1980. He subsequently became involved in numerous international diplomatic negotiations and helped to oversee elections in countries with insecure democratic traditions; he also became the first sitting or former American president to visit Fidel Castro's Cuba. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002.